The SEC Just Got a Very Public Spanking From a New York Judge

TL;DR

• The SEC is claiming that by offering crypto tokens like Solana, Cardano, and Polygon, Coinbase is selling unregistered securities.

• But in yesterday’s court hearing, Judge Failla praised the DeFi community’s clear explanation of staking and wallet usage, while she slammed the SEC for essentially trying to shift the goal posts and redefine what a security is.

• The hearing was requested by Coinbase, in an attempt to get the entire case thrown out - which, if it happened, would be a landmark move for the future of crypto in the US.

Full Story

You know that thing you used to do to get your older siblings in trouble?

You’d start crying for no reason other than to get your mom’s attention, then we she entered the room you’d make something up…

(“He pushed me” or “she took my toy”).

But every now and then, when mom posed the question “what happened?” - you’d freeze under pressure, fail to make a clear accusation, and all of a sudden you were the one getting a scolding.

This is like that.

Except it’s being played out in a court of law, between the SEC and Coinbase (and the role of ‘mom’ is being played by Judge Katherine Polk Failla).

ICYMI: The SEC is claiming that by offering crypto tokens like Solana, Cardano, and Polygon, Coinbase is selling unregistered securities.

(Aka: illegally selling shares in a company, to the general public).

But in yesterday’s court hearing, Judge Failla wasn’t having it.

J-Fai praised the DeFi community’s clear explanation of staking and wallet usage, while she slammed the SEC for essentially trying to shift the goal posts and redefine what a security is.

(Pointing out that former SEC director Bill Hinman had already publicly stated that a token in itself is not a security).

So…

‘The SEC got a scolding and now we’re being smug about it’

Is that the headline?

Well, yeah, kinda - but there’s more to it than just that!

The hearing was requested by Coinbase, in an attempt to get the entire case thrown out - which, if it happened, would be a landmark move for the future of crypto in the US.

(Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the request has not been ruled on).

But if you’re reading this in the future and want to know the outcome:

Check the prices of Solana, Cardano, and Polygon - if they’re sky rocketing, it means the case has been thrown out.

Sadly, our guess is that this case will continue to be heard/dragged out.